


Going Vegetarian

by 9_of_Clubs



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Dinner, Future Fic, In Chilton's mind no one is more suited to help than he, M/M, Possibly Pre-Slash, odd friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 19:30:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1440082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/9_of_Clubs/pseuds/9_of_Clubs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frederick Chilton is determined to help Will Graham after Hannibal Lecter has been safely jailed away. And what better way to start than with dinner?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Going Vegetarian

He invites Will to dinner a few days after Lecter’s incarceration. Will says no the first five times, obviously still in something of a state of shock, but on the sixth, he relents. That number, Chilton tells himself, has not a bit to do with his testimony at the trial the week before...which may or may not have been identical to the one he'd given at Will’s. But, look, he wasn’t _wrong,_ exactly, he was still right on the money, just about the wrong man, and he’d worked hard on those lines, had rehearsed them into perfection. It would be a shame not to have them on record somewhere. He deserves that much, doesn’t he? Lecter had smirked at him as he’d said the words, his twinkling eyes finding Chilton’s for a moment. _I had you nailed all along,_ he’d tried to convey back in his look, hadn’t at all choked on his words, stuttering into a half cough. No, he’d been calm, cool and collected. And he’s the one in charge of the other going forward anyway, it’s almost a gleeful thought, in charge of him and meeting Will for dinner. Who is the better man, now?

Will is sitting awkwardly slumped in a booth towards the back. The other looks tired, dark bags under his eyes, he should suggest to him the face cream he uses, it does wonders, clothes rumpled and wrinkled, and the dry cleaner. It’s good that he proposed this then, it looks like Will could use a nice meal, and why not with him? He’s a good man, he hasn’t killed anyone, in fact, he helped Will get out, believed him before anyone else did, cared for him in his cell. 

“Hello Frederick.” Will says as he approaches, not really looking up, fingers playing with the water glass. So wonderfully damaged. 

“Will.” He replies back cheerily, ordering a bottle of wine for them to share as he slides into his seat and the waiter approaches, his eyes sliding over the glossy cover of the menu, he hopes they have good salads. 

“Why are we here?” Will’s voice is sharp, unhappy, and Chilton shakes his head tutting his lips. 

“We’re here to have dinner, Will.” The “Obviously” he tries his best to keep silent, but can’t help raising his eyebrows. “Or have you been so broken, that you think I require some motive to invite you to a meal?” He pauses, meaningfully, so that Will can grasp the full importance of what he has to say. “I assure you, I do not.” 

Will is silent at that, teeth worrying at his bottom lip, the considerations moving across his brain almost transparent to a man who possesses Chilton’s level of understanding. Memories of those with motive, of all his friends turning away from him, of being betrayed and all alone, clear as day beneath his skull. But Chilton is here to show him all that is in the past. He’s here to be his friend, a real one. There’s a vacancy after all and no one better for the job. 

Finally, Will shrugs again, pulling his shoulders to his ears. He looks small, suddenly, bravado stripped away to the core, his eyes far away for a moment. It’ll be nice for him, Chilton thinks, to have someone so strong to depend on. 

“I guess dinner wouldn’t hurt.” Will mumbles, finally finding his gaze, something like a small smile playing across his lips. “We can both go vegetarian.”

There’s a joke in there that he can’t quite suss out, but he smiles back at Will all the same, as though he understands perfectly. “Yes.” He agrees, pouring Will a glass of wine, and moving his chair just slightly closer. “We’ll do exactly that.”

**Author's Note:**

> For the ever marvelous [Slake](http://the-artist-slake.tumblr.com/)


End file.
